Audience members star in ‘Christmas Catechism’

If you’ve seen the first two installments of “Late Nite Catechism” at the Laguna Playhouse and think you’ve been exposed to interactive theater -- well, as Al Jolson used to say, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

“Sister’s Christmas Catechism,” subtitled “The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold,” is the latest, and by far the most entertaining, of the triumvirate written by (and often featuring) Marypat Donovan. The one-woman show conducted by a rather stern nun has been convulsing Monday night audiences in Laguna over the past three seasons.

There are a handful of actresses who don the sister’s habit for this ongoing entertainment package. The most recent performance Monday night spotlighted Nonie Newton-Breen, whose roots are in Chicago’s large Irish Catholic community, and it shows. Those in the audience without “benefit” of a Catholic school education are dismissed as “pagans” by the snippy Sister.

Whereas the first two “Late Nite Catechisms” used audience members as foils occasionally, “Christmas Catechism” thrusts several visitors full-on into the spotlight as Sister recreates the Nativity with the full cast -- Mary, Joseph, the magi, a shepherd, an ox, an ass, a sheep and the Little Drummer Boy -- with appropriate costumes for each.

But woe betide the playgoer who brings a cell phone and forgets to turn it off. One such instrument wound up in the men’s room toilet Monday (or so Sister would have her “class” believe). And ladies who expose too much cleavage for Sister’s sensibilities will receive a handful of paper towels for modesty’s sake.

Newton-Breen handles the interactive portion of her show masterfully, reacting with a vengeance to audience members who attempt to steal the spotlight.

Even sitting in the back row won’t allow you to escape her attention -- especially if you arrive late, as one couple did Monday (he wound up onstage as the ox).

“Sister’s Christmas Catechism” continues through this month with performances Dec. 12, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23, with a special 2 p.m. matinee on the Dec. 22.

Tickets are $49 for orchestra and $39 for balcony (where you may or may not be out of Sister’s reach). Call the playhouse at (949) 497-2781, ext. 1, for more information, and you may become the culprit who made off with the magi’s gold.20051209h3hei2kf(LA)20051209iq2qsxkn(LA)Marypat Donovan created and stars in “Sister’s Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold” at the Laguna Playhouse. Marypat Donovan created and stars in “Sister’s Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold” at Laguna Playhouse.